An Evening with Robert Goddard (Author)On the evening of 29 September 2009 we went to see an interview between the author Robert Goddard and the publisher of Newbooks maagazine, Guy Pringle. The interview was held in the wonderfully historic Pilgrims’ Hall (built in 1308) in Cathedral Close, Winchester. After settling in our seats with a glass of wine we listened to Robert tell the inspiring story of his writing life so far. Robert was born in Hampshire. He was educated at Price's Grammar School, Fareham (1966-1973). At Price's he gained entry to Peterhouse College, Cambridge where he read History. He worked as an educational administrator in Devon before becoming a full-time novelist. Since then Robert has written 21 books, been awarded the WH Smith ‘Thumping Good Read Award’ and been nominated for the Edgar Awards best novel. Robert is the master of the tale with a twist at the end. Many of his books have a historical connection and are often set in two different time periods. The hero, or heroine, usually uncovers some secret or conspiracy by means of diaries or other historical documents. One of the most interesting things to me was that Robert’s wife is very involved in the research for his books and acts as a sounding board throughout the writing on his novels (she also apparently owns the copyright to his books). Which brings me on to a TV adaptation of ‘Into the Blue’ – Robert grimaced as he recalled how unhappy he’d been with what the television company had done to his book – the adaptation bore little resemblance to the story and he received complaints from disappointed fans (even though the production was entirely out of his control). Apparently even the brilliant acting of John Thaw couldn’t make up for the carve up the TV company had made of his novel. Robert also explained that he spends many months planning the structure of his novels before he starts writing any prose. We came away from the evening with three new books to read and no doubt we will be purchasing the rest in due course. A list of Robert’s books are listed below:-
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